The holiday
season has returned and while most of you out there are bundling up to escape
winter's frigid grip we here in Hawai'i are still basking in the sunlight and
skating our ears off every chance we get. The Hawai'i Winter Outlaw Series has
been a winter staple for us in the island's for 6 seasons now, it is our yearly
reminder of how incredibly lucky we are to live in a place that allows for year
round shredding and it show's no signs of slowing down. As the year's go by the
level of racing increases exponentially and the courses keep getting more and
more challenging, so far this season is no exception. The Big Island boys
started the season off proper with a maniacal hill on the slopes of Mauna Kea
that put not only the rider's abilities to the test but their bravery as well
with speed topping 60mph/100kph, surely that's no easy act to follow.
As December
rolled around anticipation started to build over a favorite event amongst
yearly competitors, The Maui Challenge. This year was promising to be more
competitive and diverse than years past thanks to crews from Washington and
California making the trip out to join all the regular island racers. The day
finally arrived and we were up with the sun making final preparations while
trying to control our childish giddy excitement for what was about to go down.
Photos- Mackenzie Yoshida
Nestled
high up the volcano in a dense forest of eucalyptus trees adorned with glowing
orange moss lies a 6 1/2 mile stretch of buttah asphalt that winds unabated
through the valleys and ridges of an ancient lava flow, completing 22 hairpin
corners and over 100 sweeping turns, that we affectionately refer to as the
Lavender Farm. We chose a section of road offering 2 steep hairpin corners with
7 sharp kinks in between and started drawing heats. We decided to run 4
qualifying head to head heats; 1 point for a win, 0 points for a loss, after
the 4 heats we tally the points and build a single elimination bracket to
decide the winner. This allowed for tons of runs and plenty stoke!
Photos- Mackenzie Yoshida
The course
proved to be more technical yet far easier than what we had experienced last
year, meaning that racing was tight from the start. The determination was
evident on the field of faces, it was as if every skater firmly believed they
had a shot at winning. After countless close heats and very little wrecks we
had worked our way through qualifying rounds, separating the field and ending
up with a STACKED 11 man bracket. Notable contenders included Washington’s Rain
Daley, Oahu’s Kaimana Pinto and Kj Nakanelua, Byron Essert from California,
French Canadian Matt Kienzle and Maui’s own Dakota Camp. (Matt K has won the
previous 2 years.)
Photo- Mackenzie Yoshida
Photo- Evan Higa
Following
two more rounds of intense, close heats we had found our final 3 skaters and it
was no surprise as they had been out shredding the competition all day. Rain
Daley, Byron Essert and hometown hero Dakota Camp would battle it out for the
2015 Maui Challenge crown!
Photos- Mackenzie Yoshida
Byron shot
out in front off the push followed closely by Dakota and then Rain. Entering
the first dropping hairpin, which determines your speed for the less steep more
curvaceous section ahead, the riders stayed in perfect formation as listed
above. Everyone exits the corner with maximum speed and got in to a human centipede
draft train nose in ass squeezing the deodorant out of their pits waiting for
the one ahead to make a mistake. The mistake never came and line after line was
absolutely nailed by all 3 finalists. They crossed the finish line in the order
they started, Byron Essert in first, Dakota Camp second and Rain Daley third.
What a day!
Photos- Mackenzie Yoshida
Huge thanks
to all those in attendance, riders and spotters alike, and our generous
sponsors. This day wouldn’t have been as memorable without all those
involved. Next stop is the Festival of Sugar and Love on Oahu in February
to finish off another epic season. Hope to see you all there!!
- Zach Newman
WheelTurnerHawaii Ambassador
Photo- Evan Higa
People of all ages are attempting to try out this enjoyable sport when they head ocean side.tours on maui
ReplyDeleteThe beauty of the space and food get 5 juicy stars. The place was built with class! I'm no critic, but this place makes you appreciate design and aesthetics. I went to two events at Chicago event venues. Both times, I had a great experience.
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